Witchblade: The Darkness
by Volt Storm
Summary: Six months after the final battle with The NSWF Masane wakes up in an apartment that she doesn't recognize gaurded by the new user of The Darkness. Will she find Rihoko and can she trust this person. Appearances by The Angelus,I-weapons, in the future.
1. The Darkness

Chapter 1: Darkness

A man of about 22 years of age is walking up stairs leading to his apartment in some little town in Japan that he can barely remember the name of. He has short, spiked, black hair. He's wearing a black leather jacket and carrying a guitar case in his left hand that says _" Devil Slayer"_ on the side of it in white letters; he has a bag of groceries in the other hand.

As he reaches his door he hears the voice again.

" Rihoko! Rihoko!" a voice of a woman calls out.

" Ah great ! She's dreaming again!" he says as he opens his door

_-Calm down Alex she is still fighting the effects of pushing her power all those months ago-_

" You keep your comments to yourself" Alex replies to the voice in his head known as The Darkness.

_-But Alex she carries the Witchblade and- _

"Yeah, yeah I know a weapon born of both you and Angelus that has passed on from woman to woman, generation to generation with users such as Joan of Arc and Cleopatra. You told me all this when you first told me to come here!" he shouts back at his inner demon. "But why she have to keep yapping in her sleep?"

_-Battles that were at that level usually repeat themselves in the persons subconscious- _The Darkness replies.

Alex had come to Japan eight months ago when both he and The Darkness sensed a serious amount of power being used that didn't match Angelus' or Magdelena's power; so Alex had hopped on a plane to investigate. When they got there they started hearing about weird murders that had been happening. Then there was a huge battle involving the witchblade and these robots that they later learned were called I-weapons. The carrier of the witchblade had decided to blow themselves up along with the I-weapons.

_Idiot_ Alex thought as he was sitting in his living room. Alex had been in a lot of fights with both magical and non-magical opponents and he had never even thought of blowing himself up to win. As he finished that thought he noticed that the talking had stopped.

"Thank you" he said as he slumped back in his chair falling asleep.

Alex woke up a little while later from the sound of a door opening.

" Huh?" he said as he wondered who was opening a door that he could hear. Then when he heard foot steps and the sound of a blade being drawn he figured out that someone was in his apartment. He jumped up as he unclasp his guitar case grabbing one of the many weapons he hid in there while black organic armor coated his chest, legs, and arms over his cloths. He jumped out of the way just as a huge blade sliced his chair in half. He turned around and shot the double-barrel shot gun he had grabbed at his attacker; who ever it was dodged it and jumped toward Alex getting ready to slash at him again.

"I don't think so !" he said as three dark tentacles shot out from behind his shoulders grabbing his attacker.

" Let go of me!" his attacker screamed.

_-It's the witchblade!-_ the darkness hissed.

"Man I thought Angelus' outfit was weird" he said as he looked up and down at the rather revealing armor that the woman wore; he didn't _mind _the view but he was just ambushed so his mind wasn't really in that place now.

" Let me go!" the witchblade wielder screamed.

Suddenly a knock came at the door, Alex retracted the face plate from his armor and while not letting go of the witchblade opened the door slightly.

" Estacado! What the hell is going on in there!" a short, bald man screamed at Alex.

" Mr. Tsuburaya?! I turned on the TV and It was blaring. I must have forgot I had it that loud from this morning. It won't happen again." Alex said calmly.

" It better not, or I'm calling the police!" the man said as he stormed away.

Alex closed the door. "Yeah call the police yah short little piece of crap, see what happens." Alex mumbled as he walked back to the situation at hand.

How ever the red head with the armor was replaced with the lady he pulled from the ruble six months ago.

Alex couldn't stop himself from saying it " I liked the other outfit better."

"Shut up and put me down!" She screamed.


	2. Introductions

Chapter 2: Introductions

Alex complied with her request and made his tentacles let go of her.

"Umph." she said as she landed on the couch.

" Alright who are you? Where am I, and Why am I here?" she shouted wanting answers.

"My you certainly don't waste any time, do you?" Alex said retracting the rest of his armor. The woman just gave him an angry glare.

"Okay, I have my own questions so I'll answer one question and you answer one question. Then we can both be happy, Okay?" Alex said, the woman nodded reluctantly in agreement.

"Well then you asked the first questions so I'll answer them." He said sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

" My names Alex Estacado, your in an apartment I rented about 50 miles away from Tokyo, or what's left of it, and you're here because I hauled your stupid ass out of about a ton of ruble after you blew up Tokyo." he answered her questions.

" Well then how did you find me?" she said.

"Uh, uh, uh you asked me three questions so I get to ask you three questions, remember?" he stated calmly. Alex thought about what questions to ask he had quite a few but he didn't know which ones to ask, he soon decided.

" Alright who are you? When did you get the Witchblade? And Who's this Rihoko you were talking about in your sleep?" He asked.

" I was talking in my sleep?" The woman asked.

"Yes, but not important now, about my questions?" he responded, she sighed annoyed at his calmness.

" My names Masane Amaha, I got the Witchblade six years ago during the great quake, and Rihoko is my daughter. If talking in my sleep was a bother to you I'm sorry." She said sarcastically.

"Okay now your turn" he said ignoring her sarcasm.

She thought " How did you know I had the Witchblade?" She asked.

" Well coming after me with the sword in the sex suit didn't exactly stop that theory but I saw you fighting six months ago, so I kinda knew already." he told her. Masane's face was red from embarrassment and anger about the sex suit comment, her thoughts were interrupted by Alex asking his next question.

"So why'd you blow yourself up?" Alex asked nonchalantly.

Masane was taken back by his calmness while asking this question but brushed it off .

"My body was being broken down by using the Witchblade, slowly killing me and my daughter was supposed to be next host for it. So I tried to destroy it and myself." she said depressed.

" Do you really believe the Witchblade would kill you? It's host? Ha!" was Alex's response.

"What do you Know! You don't have to live with this-this thing on my wrist! You don't know how it feels like!" Masane screamed at the man.

Alex looked at the ground and slowly said "Actually, I do." Masane had a puzzled look on her face.

" There is a power known as The Darkness it is older than mankind itself. It is passed from generation to generation from father to son. My father was the last user of the darkness. My twenty-first birthday." Alex paused " That was the first time I died."

Masane was scared by the statement but curiosity got the better of her.

"Wha-what happened?" she asked.

Alex sighed.

"The darkness is passed on from father to child during the pregnancy, how ever the father dies soon after. Before I was born my father Jackie Estacado was a mafia hitman who gained the darkness and used it to take over the mob. However another power called the Angelus destroyed the mafia during a fight with him."

Alex paused letting Masane absorb all the personal information he was giving her.

"Go on" she urged him," After that my dear old dad decided to head toward a little tropical republic called Sierra Munoz. He along with the help of some doctor made a drug out of his own bodily fluids" his sentence was interrupted.

"Eww" said Masane.

Alex chuckled slightly at this. " Well anyways" He continued " My dad had no problem taking over Sierra Munoz, with the help of the darkness. Even met my mom while doing it. However the citizens didn't exactly take kindly to all this so, they tried rebelling against him using guerilla warfare. They even got help from the US government. But none of it was enough. Eventually my dad was caught and he tried to make amends by getting rid of the drugs but, he found my mom and she told him she was pregnant. Jackie decided to not let his power kill him so he tried to kill my mom."

Masane was shocked.

" How could he do that!? Didn't he love her?" she said.

"From what I heard my dad wasn't much for love. Well my mom was able to escape, went to America, got a job, pretty much raised me alone" he told her.

"That's very sad" she said.

"Yeah" he responded.

" So you never met your dad?" she asked.

"No I met him." he answered.

" But you said the father dies when the darkness passes on." she said.

" Yeah but my dad got desperate when he couldn't track down my mom. So he got the rest of the drugs that he made and injected himself with them, hoping they would slow the process down enough that he could find my mom. But they did more than that." he said.

He looked out the window seeing the rising sun.

"We've been up all night." he says.

"You've been up all night I've been up for only about four hours." she corrects him.

"Well for most of my life I was normal, normal guy, normal life, normal everything, but my mom was always really nervous. I had things pretty good until I turned twenty-one. All that day I kept hearing these voices, they kept saying that I was just a puppet, that they were coming. I thought I was going crazy until I met dear old dad. They drugs were made from his blood so they had small amounts of the darkness in them, so when he injected himself with all of them he got his powers back but the darkness was passed on so the power that the drugs held was uncontrollable; they mutated him, he didn't look human. He was trying to kill me to take my powers hoping that he could fix would have done it if my darkness powers hadn't kicked in." he finished.

"What did you do?" Masane questioned.

" I just wanted to get out of there so I used the darkness arms to throw him into a wall. Not my most exciting fight but I was freaking out about an ancient power taking over my body." Alex answered her.

"When I was sure I was safe I tried calling my mom to see if she knew anything, but there was no answer. I was worried so I ran to her apartment to find the door ripped open. I ran inside to see if she was okay. I found her on the floor, she was pretty bad but she explained that Jackie would be back and then she gave me the address of a storage unit she rented and said that everything I would need was in there. She said take care of myself and that was her last breath." Alex just stared at the ground.

He had never told somebody this and it was hard telling someone he had known only a few hours.

"I'm sorry." Masane said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks." he responded.

"Guns."

"What?" she asked.

"That's what was in the storage unit. A lot of them. I stuffed as many as I could into an old guitar case I had in my car, and left. I eventually met up with my dad again but I was prepared that time. He got a taste of his own medicine when he tried to kill my girlfriend. He' s gone but I've faced other freaks all over the world." Alex told Masane.

"That's how I know the Witchblade wasn't trying to kill you. It was moving in I guess you could say. You should be about ten time stronger now." he reminded her of the reason his life story was out in the open in the first place.

"Well I'm going to bed" he said getting up from the couch and heading toward a door.

" There's food in the fridge if your hungry." He said opening a door and stepping inside.

Masane watched this in amazement. A person just told someone that and just goes to sleep she couldn't believe it. Of course she also couldn't believe someone could have a power as great as the witchblade. She just shook it off and headed toward the kitchen.


	3. Show Off

Chapter 3: Show Off

Alex closed the door behind him. He pulled his jacket off and flopped down on the bed. He just laid there staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. He heard Masane open the fridge and start rummaging around.

"She really doesn't waste any time" Alex said out loud.

_-You told her too much Alex-_ The darkness said to him.

" Telling something about yourself makes people trust you." Alex responded.

_-Or allows them to use that information against you, you don't know if she's on your side.-_

"I think I can trust her." Alex said.

-_When her blade is sticking out of your neck you'll wish you had listened to me-_ the darkness responded.

Alex ignored the voice's rant and quickly fell asleep.

Masane was riffling through the fridge to see what Alex had to eat, she was starving. Masane found a box of pizza and looked inside, it looked fine.

"Hey is this pizza okay?" she shouted.

"Yeah, it's only a day old."Alex shouted back through his door.

Masane grabbed a soda out of the fridge and sat on the couch and turned on the TV while she ate her pizza. She watched some old western and finished the pizza, she noticed she was skinnier then she used to be; she wondered why this was, she would just ask Alex later. She proceeded to walk around the apartment, she saw it didn't have much decoration. There were only a few pictures on the walls, most of them had Alex and somebody else in them except for one, it just had a young woman in it.

"I wonder who this is?" Masane said out loud.

She looked at the clock it was about three o'clock in the afternoon Alex went to bed at eight.

" Shouldn't he be up by now?" she said.

"Yes I should." she heard, startled she turned around to see Alex standing in the door way of his room.

"You startled me." Masane said after a minute.

"Yeah I have that effect on people" Alex said back.

"No I meant you freaked me out-No I Mean I.." She started.

"Calm down I was kidding." Alex said while cracking his neck loudly.

Masane remembered the question she had from earlier.

"Hey Alex." she said.

"Yeah" Alex responded.

"I seem skinnier then I remember why is that?" she asked.

"Well you were in a coma for six months so my doctor friend basically just stuffed you full of calories everyday through an IV needle so losing weight isn't surprising." He responded.

"Doctor friend?" Masane said with a slightly confused look on her face.

"Yeah she moved to Japan from LA a little under a year ago. She knows about the darkness and that so she knows when I call there's something wrong. She said you had mostly internal injuries but you were recovering fast but still in a kinda active coma." he told her.

"Active coma?" she asked.

"Yeah normally when your in a coma you don't react to your environment but you kinda did just didn't wake up." he answered her.

"Oh." she responded.

"And while I know you want to start looking for your daughter, your not going anywhere till she checks off your health." Alex said strongly.

"But I feel fine." Masane protested.

"Yeah but I'm coming with you to find your daughter and I know some of those things you were fighting survived that blast and they might try to track you down especially since the witchblade's working again and I'm not doing all the fighting when that happens because your liver ruptures because you pushed yourself too soon." Alex explains.

"Fine." Masane sighs giving up she has a sad look on her face.

"Any idea where to start looking for Rihoko?" she asks Alex figuring he's thought about this.

" I'd try what's left of Tokyo you didn't completely destroy Tokyo and people started moving in a couple weeks after, and they've really gotten a lot done with reconstruction about a third of what was destroyed is back to relative new." Alex answers her question sympathetically.

"Wow that's pretty fast!" she says.

"Yeah some company called Douji Group Industries had everybody working on it." he's responds.

"That's it!" She exclaims.

"What?" he asks confused to her excitement.

"The Douji Group! I used to work for them before a _change in management_ they'll help me find Rihoko!" she excitedly told him.

"You worked for them?" he asks confused.

"Yeah they hired me to get rid of what are called Ex-cons, those things I was fighting six months ago. So they have to help me!" she explained to him.

"If you worked for them why'd they send those things after you? Talk too much smack at a business meeting?" he said jokingly.

"Yeah. That's where the management thing comes in the old boss wanted to wait to study the Witchblade and just use me to fix problems like the Ex-cons but when he got fired they decided they would take it whether I was attached or not." she says scratching her head.

"This new management was his name Wado? Or Something like that?" Alex asked.

"Yeah I think that was it." she said.

"Well I think you don't have to worry about him anymore." he said almost laughing.

"Why?" she said confused to his laughing.

"Because people found out about him sending those I-weapons after you and essentially causing the explosion and now he's on the run they put another guy in charge of the company, Takyu- Takay" he said trying to remember the name as it was quite a few months ago he heard the story on the news.

"Takayama?" Masane inquired.

"Yeah that guy." he said confirming the name that he forgot.

"Great! He was the one to hire me in the first place!"she said.

"Well then finding your daughter will be no problem." Alex said "but not until the doctor says your okay to travel." he said.

"Well get her over here then." she said impatiently.

"Alright, alright calm down." he said heading toward the phone.

About an hour later a knock came at the door.

"That must be her." Alex said getting up from the couch.

He opened the door and let the person on the other side in. In stepped a woman about the same age as Masane with shoulder length, red hair wearing business clothes.

"Well you seem to be doing better." she said to Masane in the cheery manner.

"Thank you" Masane said amused by the woman's attitude.

The doctor told Alex to leave so she could do the examination, "Okay! Okay! Stop your shoving!" Alex said grabbing his guitar case and jacket.

After Alex was gone the doctor emptied her bag to start the examination.

"So do I just call you doctor? Or do you have a name?" Masane asked.

"Oh! You can call me Karen. Everybody does." The doctor answered.

While Karen was checking Masane's blood pressure Masane said "Alex said earlier that you moved to Japan from LA. Is that where your from ?"

"Yes" Karen answered "I decided to move after I started treating Alex after his fights more than my patients." she said calmly.

"You seem young for a doctor." Masane said.

"I sped through my classes and got my degree very early." Karen said while continuing the examination.

"Have you known Alex long?" asked Masane.

"Yeah his mom and my mom new each other so we met when we were about eight and five." Karen said checking Masane's heart.

"Oh." Masane said.

A while later Karen was done with Masane's psychical and told her she could travel in a couple days.

"I'll let Alex know" Karen said while packing her things and heading toward the door.

"Okay" Masane said walking her to the door.

"Good bye Masane." Karen said.

"Good bye." Masane said back.

Masane went to the couch and turned on the TV. She looked at the clock it was about ten o'clock. Then suddenly she felt a very familiar feeling.

"Ex-cons"She said transforming into her witchblade form.

"I've been itching for a fight." she said jumping out the window. She jumped across a few buildings till she spotted a park.

"There!" she said with lust in her voice.

She jumped into the park and started running full speed toward the other side of the park. She kept running when she saw a woman surrounded by four men standing by a building. All the men were different looking; one was skinny and bald with a red t-shirt and jeans on, another was fat with long black hair and a coat on, another was medium build with a suit on, and another was tall with short hair. They transformed into there true forms. The skinny one was now a bunch of saw blades stacked on top of each other with wheels on the bottom and a dome on top.

"Let's cut it up!" the dome said while maniacally laughing; the fat one turned into a group of glowing panels.

"Let's warm you up." he said; The one in the suit transformed into some sort of machine with a drill pointing toward the woman.

"This won't hurt a bit." He cackled out and the tall one was now a tank looking thing, he was silent.

Before Masane could attack she heard a strange laugh coming out of nowhere she looked around trying to see if it was another Ex-con, but she saw that the other ex-cons were looking up. She followed there gaze to the top of a building they were standing next to. What they saw was figure with his coat blowing in the wind with glowing yellow eyes and guns in both hands surrounded by three smaller figures.

They all heard the figure say "You take the big one, I get the other three."

All the figures jumped down off the building. Masane and the ex-cons saw the figure was wearing black armor with large handguns in both hands with three gremlin like things with him.

One of the gremlins cried out "Watch the sky!" in a chilling voice.

The three gremlins jumped on the tank and proceeded to attack him. One of the gremlins had a chainsaw and was making large gashes on the tanks armor. Another had a golfclub and attacking the tanks treads. The tank at this point panicking and was trying to shot the creatures off but, the creature that had talked had twisted his gun of and started to bash the tank in the "head".

Masane was stunned at the fact that an ex-con was being beaten by such small creatures, they were no bigger than maybe half her size. She then remembered the figure in the armor. She looked toward the other I-weapons and saw the figure standing before them between them and the woman.

"Out of the way!" the saw blades said to him.

"Make me." He said firmly.

"I'll make you warm!" panels said moving toward him opening up letting his panels glow.

The figure just raised his gun and fired at the thing, shooting out the panels then charging at it kicking it in the middle leaving a large hole in him. He slumped to the ground.

"I'm getting bored." The armored figure said.

"I'll show you bored." The saw blades said charging at the figure saw blades whirling full speed.

The figure responded by sending two black tendrils from behind his back after the blades, tearing through the thing like paper.

"Ahhhhhh!" the blades screamed while being torn to pieces.

"Well" the figure said facing the drill "You're the only one left want to just get it over with and blow your self up? Or do you want me to do it for you?".

"Why you!" the drill said starting his drill and speeding toward the figure.

The man in armor just raised his gun and suddenly the gun changed into a more twisted version of itself, the man shot the gun and a huge flash of gray energy shot out of the barrel. When the bolt hit the drill he automatically blew up.

"Well that was easy." The figure said.

"Oh thank you so mu" the woman said started before the figure interrupted.

"What the hell is wrong with you!"

"What?" the woman said.

"Walking around town at this time at night by yourself your lucky your not dead!" He said.

The woman just turned and walked away "Fuck you!" She screamed back at him.

"Yeah, you wish. Oh and if a stranger offers you candy, don't get in the van!" he shouted back.

The gremlins headed toward the man and gathered around him.

"Nice job boys" he said while looking at what was left of the tank. He looked right at Masane.

"Hey Masane!" he said waving his hand at her.

"Alex?" she said coming out of the shadows still in her transformed state. The gremlins whistled at her.

"Yeah" he said smacking one of them upside the head.

"So this is the full power of the Darkness?" she asked.

"Not full power but what do you think?" He asked.

Masane looked directly at him and said "I think you're a show off."


	4. Hello Again

Chapter 4: Hello Again

Masane and Alex changed back into there regular forms and walked back to the apartment.

"You didn't have to be so rude to that girl." Masane said after a while.

"I've never been one to beat around the bush when I think people are being stupid, and someone walking alone at ten o'clock at night is stupid to me." Alex responded.

"Maybe." she said quietly.

"Alex, what are those things?" she said pointing toward the gremlins which Alex had following them on the rooftops.

"They're called Darklings. I can create them using the darkness, they pack a pretty mean punch." Alex told her.

Remembering something "How was your physical?" he asked.

"Fine. Karen said I could travel in a couple days." she said in a cheery voice.

"Well we can leave as soon as you want to." Alex replied. Masane smiled; then thought about something.

"Hey Alex, why do you want to come with me?" she asked curious to his reasons.

"For two reasons, one I'm a nice guy and want to help you find your daughter; and two paranoia." He replied.

"Paranoia?" she asked confused.

"Yeah, do you remember that other power I told you about? The Angelus?" Alex said.

"Yeah." Masane said remembering him mention the name.

"Well the Angelus and the Darkness are mortal enemies, and the Angelus is not like the Darkness in that it fully possesses the host. Plus in the past the Angelus either teams up with another power or tries to kill them." Alex said.

"Other powers? You mean like the Witchblade?" Masane asked.

"Yeah." Alex said.

"Do you think I would try to kill you?" she asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so but, I've known people who I wouldn't think would betray me and did." he responded.

"Well don't worry. I'm not gonna team up with this _Angelus_ anytime soon." Masane said.

As she and Alex walked down the sidewalk they didn't notice the mysterious figure standing on the building a few blocks away from them, even as it spread it's wing and flew in the other direction.

When they reached the apartment Alex told Masane he was going to bed. Masane tried to go to sleep in the room across the apartment but she couldn't, she was thinking about Rihoko and if she would be able to find her, if she was okay, or who she was living with. She got up and went to try and watch TV. She found that nothing was on. She went into the kitchen and tried to find something to eat. She opened a cabinet and found something she liked.

Alex woke up to a strange sound, he looked at the clock _12:00 am_ he tried to figure out what the sound was. He looked toward the door and saw Masane standing at the door.

"Masane?" he said, Masane responded by stumbling toward Alex and falling next to him. He leaned over the side of the bed to see if she was okay. She raised herself up and shushed him, he saw there was something wrong as he leaned on his elbow.

"Ya know, Al-Ale-Alex." her speech was slurred.

"Yo-you-your kinda cute." she said raising her hand to his face.

"Well look who found the booze." Alex said realizing what was going on.

"And tho-tho-those eyezzzzz!" she murmured while looking into his green eyes.

"Masane who much did you drink?" Alex asked.

She responded by leaning forward. Slowly she closed her eyes as she got closer, Alex didn't close his eyes because he had a feeling this wouldn't go anywhere. He was right because just before she got close she slipped and quickly passed out.

"Saw that one coming." Alex said quickly hopping out of bed and picking up Masane.

It's not that Alex didn't think Masane was hot but he was respectful to women. He carried Masane to her room while she wormed in his arms, he plopped her in her bed and threw her blankets over her. He looked at her, she looked peaceful, about as peaceful as a drunk person could be. He turned back to go back to bed.

The next morning Masane woke up to a massive headache and extreme nausea. She stumbled out of her room and looked around. Alex was sitting on the couch eating a burger and fries.

"You missed breakfast, just in time for lunch." he said holding up a bag from the burger place, without even looking away from the TV.

"Oh. No thanks."she said holding her stomach, heading toward the couch.

"You remember anything from last night?" Alex asked not stopping with his burger.

"No." Masane said with a wince of pain.

"Well, you tried to make-out with me." he said calmly, waiting for her reaction.

"WHAT!" Masane screamed just hurting her head more.

"Yeah. Stumbled into my room fell on the floor and almost made-out with me before you passed out." Alex said unfazed.

"Oh Alex! I'm so sorry!" she said ashamed of her actions.

"Don't worry about it. Karen did the same thing at a Christmas party once. I was drunk too, but we didn't let it get in the way of out friendship." he said finishing his fries.

"Yeah but" she started.

"Masane leave it alone, nothing happened." Alex said reassuring her.

Masane calmed down and took some medicine that Alex had given her for her hangover.

"The next train for Tokyo leaves tomorrow at one o'clock, we should leave for the station by noon. Just incase, I'm hiding the booze." he said jokingly.

Alex looked out the window and saw something on the building across the street, he rubbed his eyes make sure he wasn't seeing things, but when he looked again nothing was there.

"Something wrong?" Masane asked seeing he looked confused.

"It's nothing." he said moving away from the window.

The next day Masane and Alex headed toward the train station. Masane had bought some clothes yesterday after her hangover.

"Come on! Come on!" she cried back to Alex who was shoving himself through the crowd trying to keep up.

"I'm trying!" he said trying to keep himself standing in the crowd.

As Masane was waiting for a street light to change a shadow flew very fast over her, she looked up to try to figure out what it was, she saw a large white feather floating down toward her. She caught it and looked at it, it was about a foot long. When Alex caught up with her she at the street light she showed him the feather.

"Any idea where this came from?" She asked.

"One damn big pigeon." Alex said looking up.

After a few minutes they got to the train station.

"Made it!" Masane exclaimed.

"Yeah." Alex said panting because he had to run after Masane for about the last mile and a half.

Masane sat on a bench while Alex checked to make sure they're train was going to be on time. While she was waiting she waited she looked around, she suddenly saw these piercing eyes staring at her from the other side of the platform where people were waiting for there train. She leaned into the stare she couldn't see the face the eyes belonged to but she could see they were staring directly at her. Just as she was about to stand up a train went through the station and when it left the eyes were gone.

"What is it?" Alex asked from behind her, Masane looked back at Alex and said.

"Nothing"

"Big pigeons again?" He said trying to lighten the mood.

Masane laughed at his comment.

"Well the trains not gonna be here for twenty minutes so we can relax." he told her.

"That long?" she asked.

"Well we wouldn't have to wait so long if you hadn't been trying to get here in under five seconds." He reminded her.

"All passengers of the 1:00 o'clock to Tokyo your train will be boarding in ten minutes." A voice said over the intercom.

"Well, we better head for the platform." Alex said grabbing his guitar case.

While Masane and Alex were walking toward the platform, Alex suddenly grabbed Masane's shoulder and threw himself and her behind a column just as a huge blast of fire hit exactly where they were standing just a moment ago. As people were scurrying away screaming Alex was rifling through his guitar case searching for a weapon to fight their opponent.

"You might want to change." Alex said while still searching.

"What is it?" Masane said her eyes already glowing.

"The Angelus." Alex said pulling out a shot gun and checking to see it loaded.

"Why don't you change?" Masane now changed asks with a noticeable hint of anger.

"The Darkness only works with darkness in broad daylight I can't use most of my powers."

"Fine." she said leaping out looking around for the attacker.

"Well, well, well." said a voice behind her.

She turned around to see a woman in a armor similar to hers, with large white wings floating in mid air.

"I take it you're the Angelus?" Masane said.

Not waiting for an answer she leapt at the woman bringing her blade to full length.

"Oh no you do-" before she could finish she was shot in the shoulder by Alex and then slammed into by Masane bringing her blade into the woman's stomach.

The Angelus was slammed into a near by column while Masane landed lightly on her feet.

"Nice shot." she said turning toward Alex.

"It's not over!" Alex said pointing toward the column that the Angelus was.

"You die!" She cried flying full speed toward Masane slamming her into the nearest wall.

"You will have to do more than that to get rid of me." Angelus said calmly, her stomach wound healing quickly.

"Well then, lets try this." Masane said charging straight at Angelus trying to slash at her but Angelus was dodging very easily.

"Like I said your gonna have to do better than that." Angelus said literally flicking Masane away from her.

Masane left a big hole in the wall where she hit it, she slumped to the ground trying to stay conscious; she was still not at her full strength and Angelus was stronger in most areas of this fight. Masane couldn't move, Angelus started toward Alex who was now searching through his case again.  
"Now Darkness you die." she said making a sword appear out of no where.

"Sorry I have other plans." Alex said calmly pulling out an RPG and shooting directly at Angelus.

It hit it's target, Angelus flew several feet back hitting a wall. She was stunned but not out she tried to re-focus on Alex but, Alex had dealt with Angelus before and knew this, he was at a disadvantage so he threw a couple grenades at her making the wall fall on her.

"Masane!" Alex said running toward the injured woman.

"You alright."he asked leaning down to check her.

"Yeah." she said slowly getting up.

"Well come on, that won't hold her for long, and we have a train to catch." he said looking toward the pile Angelus was in.

Masane got up and Alex helped her run toward the platform they're train was at. She hoped the train hadn't left during the fight.

"Good it hasn't left." Alex said slowing down slightly.

They both got on the train quickly in hopes that Angelus wouldn't find them. The train was rather empty and there were only a few people in the car they were in , so they both sat toward the back of the car.

Angelus awakened after a few minutes and bashed out of the ruble she was under. She looked around and saw nothing, scowling she flew up into the air several dozen feet up, she looked around but Alex and Masane were no where to be found , there were several trains around and by the time she checked them a few of them the train containing the two could be gone. She gave an angered looked to no one and flew off, accepting defeat, for now.

The rest of the trip was uneventful but, the duo of supernatural beings kept there guards up and frequently looked out the windows to make sure there attacker wasn't following them. They stepped out of the train car and proceeded to head toward the exit.

"I guess you want to head straight to the Douji Group, right?" Alex asked as they got out of the station, Masane looked at him incredulously as he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Yeah, you coming?" she answered.

"Only if you want me too." Alex said.

"Sure." she answered back.

They were able to hail a cab and headed toward the Douji Group headquarters. They soon arrived at the large building.

Masane walked hurriedly up toward the large reception desk.

"Yes how may I help you?" the receptionist said.

"I would like to see Mr. Takayama." Masane said trying to be cheerful but really only cared about trying to find her daughter.

"Do you have an appointment?" the lady behind the desk asked.

"No, I don't." Masane said.

"Well I'm sorry but I can't let you see Mr. Takayama without an appointment." the lady said with a fake apology.

Alex walked up next to Masane at the desk being left to pay the cab fare.

"Well can you maybe call him and tell him I'm here? He knows me." Masane said with a glint of hope in her eyes.

The woman sighed heavily, obviously not wanting to have to get her boss mad because one of his what she assumed "girlfriends" wanted to talk.

"Alright" with an obvious amount of annoyance in her voice.

She picked up the phone and started dialing numbers.

"What's your name?" the lady said raising the phone to her ear.

"Masane Amaha." she said happily.

The person on the other end answered after a few seconds.

"Yes, Mr. Takayama there's a person here to see you. She says her name is Masane Amaha." she said looking at Masane and Alex thinking that this would end up with security escorting them out of the building.

"What?" she said with a shocked look on her face, Masane and Alex both raised a brow and looked at each other because of this.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Takayama. I'll send her up right now." she said while hanging up the phone.

She pointed toward an elevator and told them that "she" was supposed to go up to the twentieth floor, putting emphasizing the word she.

"He's with me." Masane said heading toward the elevator.

"Come on Alex." Alex just followed without really caring at this point.

The receptionist just went back to her work thinking "I guess she's not his girlfriend."

Alex and Masane stood in the elevator. Masane still wondered how Alex was able to read her so well.

"Alex, how are you so good at reading people?" Masane asked confusing Alex.

"Well I used to trust people very easily, but later those people would stab me in the back, so I started acting a little more cautiously and looking for peoples tells." he said still kinda confused.

"Oh. You haven't had a very easy life have you?" she said with sadness in her voice.

"Nah, I've had my share of bad luck but all around a pretty easy life." he said while the doors opened.

Standing at the doors was a skinny man with long hair and glasses.

"Hello Masane, nice to see you again." he said calmly then looked at Alex with a confused look on his face.

"Segawa, this is a friend of mine Alex Estacado." she said knowing what question was coming.

"Well then hello Mr. Estacado. Masane Mr. Takayama was expecting you." Segawa said while turning around wanting them to follow him.

"He was?" Masane said confused, she didn't think Alex had ever met Takayama let alone told him that she was alive.

"We didn't think that you were dead after all the Witchblade is incredibly powerful, we hoped that you had survived even through that explosion you caused six months ago." he said without turning his head around to see them.

He led them to a large wooden door and opened them so the two could go through sitting at the desk with his hands folded and his eyes closed was a large man with slightly messy hair and a blue suit on. He opened his eyes and saw the trio of people who had entered his office he stared intently at Alex trying to figure out who he was.

"This is a friend of Masane's Mr. Takayama, Alex Estacado." Segawa said quickly, Takayama shuffled slightly in his seat.

"It's nice to see you again Masane." he said with a slight smile "Yeah, yeah, yeah cut the small talk Takayama, where's Rihoko?" Masane said loudly "Rihoko?" he said confused "Yeah my daughter!" she nearly screamed at him. "Calm down! After the explosion she wanted to continue living with the reporter at that inn, I didn't care where she lived since I didn't want to care for a child. I still talk to her every so often but I haven't in several weeks." Takayama said louder than he was a minute ago but still calm. "Ms. Marry still has the inn?" Masane said after a minute "Yes, she was able to get a building in the parts of the city that wasn't destroyed and all of her tenants actually returned to the complex." he said calmly. "Well where is the building?" Masane asked calming down finally "I'll give you the address Masane." Segawa said "Good after that we have a job for you." Takayama said. Alex who had been quiet the whole time smirked slightly at this.


	5. Not Her

Chapter 5: Not Her

"You coming?" Masane asked Alex as she grabbed the address from Segawa "Nah, I think I'll stay here." Alex said yawning "Okay, can he stay in the lounge?" she asked Takayama "Fine. Segawa situate our guest." Takayama said without looking up from the paperwork on his desk. "Alright I'm off!" Masane said almost running out of the office. As she was walking out Segawa said "Alright Alex if you'll follow me I'll show you to our lounge." Alex followed him out of the office.

On the other side of Tokyo Masane had arrived at Marry's Tavern, She looked inside through the window. She saw Tozawa arguing with Marry about his rent, Naomi was trying to tell the future or what ever she did, and Mr. Cho was sitting at his computer. _Nothings changed_ she thought before she entered "Hey everybody!" she said, everybody looked over at her "Melony?" Tozawa said with an astonished look on his face. The whole group was astonished but they quickly forgot them and greeted Masane as if she was back from some trip, asking questions, wanting to know what happened, but before anything could really happen a crash woke them out of there excitement. Masane and the group looked over to a doorway leading toward a kitchen they saw Rihoko with an astonished look on her face with a broken plate at her feet that had some sort of food on it. "Rihoko!" Masane said running toward her daughter but as she was about to wrap her arms around her, Rihoko moved out of the way with a expression of sadness, fear, and anger all at once. "Rihoko, it's me. Your mom." Masane said as she reached for her daughter again "No!" Rihoko screamed "Your not her! Your not my mother! My mom died six months ago, she would never wait that long to look for me if she was alive! Your not her! You can't be!" The little girl said as tears were freely flowing down her face sobbing uncontrollably. The occupants of the tavern were stunned, but not as much as the young woman who was now on her knee shaking. "Not her!" Rihoko said as she left and ran down a hallway. "Melon" Tozawa started saying reaching to put a reassuring hand on the woman's shoulder but he couldn't finish because she got up and with superhuman speed ran out of the tavern. Tozawa ran out to yelling after her "Melony! Masane! Masane!" but she couldn't hear him. She was devastated, she wished Alex had left her in that pile of ruble. She ran down the streets of Tokyo tears streaming down her face she could barely see in front of her. But she could still make her way to Douji Group headquarters.

Alex was sitting on a couch in the lounge when he heard the door open behind him. "Hey Masane." he said without taking his eyes off the TV when he heard a hiccup; he turned around and saw Masane, her face was still wet with tears, she was shaking uncontrollably, and her lip was quivering. "Masane what's wrong?" he said concerned getting off the couch and turning toward her. She took a few steps forward, Alex did the same; she then fell toward him Alex caught her and she proceeded to cry heavily into his shoulder. "She doesn't want me." she kept repeating in between sobs "What?" Alex said confused to what she was saying. She looked up at him "R-Rihoko! S-S-She doesn't want m-me! She says I-I-I should ha-have found h-h-her sooner!" she said stuttering and sobbing as hard as she could, by now Alex and Masane were on there knees as Masane continued to cry and Alex continued to hold her.

About an hour later Masane had cried herself to sleep, Alex lifted her up and walked her over to the couch and laid her there. Alex felt bad for the woman, he considered her a friend and hated seeing anyone like that. He thought about something to do and finally thought of something he went to the phone in the lounge and dialed a number. "Yes, Segawa I need that address you gave Masane earlier." he started writing something on a piece of paper "Thanks" he said hanging up. He grabbed his guitar case and walked out of lounge.

It was a little while later that Alex walked into the tavern. There was a few people there. "You just gonna stand there or are you gonna order something?" Ms. Marry asked sarcastically, "Um, yeah you have any Pepsi?" Alex said stepping up to the bar and sitting down "Boy drinking heavy tonight. Huh" said Ms. Marry still being sarcastic "Rihoko, we need a Pepsi out here." Ms. Marry said "Okay, Ms. Marry." said a cheerful voice from the back. A few minutes later a Rihoko came out from the back with a glass of soda, her eyes looked like she had been crying recently "Here you go." she said happily setting the glass on top of the counter "Thank you." Alex said taking the glass. "So why are you in town?" Rihoko asked "I'm with a friend , she's trying to find some family." Alex replied taking a sip from his glass "Lost them after the thing that happened six months ago?" Tozawa said coming in hearing the conversation "You could say that." Alex said looking at Tozawa. "Has she found them yet?" Rihoko asked "She's getting close." Alex replied finishing his soda. Alex got up and went to the door but, he stopped just before he walked out of the tavern "Rihoko." he said flatly. Rihoko looked towards the door where he was at "Yes?" she said "Your mom was in a coma for six months, she woke up just a few days ago. She's the friend that I was talking about, just thought you should know." he said before leaving quickly, not wanting to she her reaction.

When Alex had left Rihoko was stunned she didn't know that her mother was in a coma. Why hadn't she said that? Rihoko would have understood. Why had Rihoko let her say anything? All these thoughts went through Rihoko's mind as she was just standing there. "Rihoko?" Tozawa said. Rihoko sped through the lobby of the tavern and out the door hoping to chase down Alex. She ran for several blocks when she suddenly slammed into someone "Oh! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." Rihoko said rubbing her head and looking up at the person she ran into. "No problem...little girl." said a women with large white wings as she grabbed Rihoko.


	6. Darkness vs Light

Chapter 6: Dark Vs Light

**AUTHORS NOTES: Thanks to all of you that have reviewed and apparently liked the story. Now to respond to some people.**

**SpartanCommander: Yeah I thought it was funny watching the show and everybody acts like the Witchblade is this powerful thing but people know know that Angelus and Darkness are real power compared to the Witchblade.**

**Nanner-Monkey: One I like the name. Two I wanted Alex to kinda be more cautious about using the full powers of the Darkness compared to Jackie who as you read killed Alex's mom and tried to kill him. Also he was raised by a mom who took care of him his whole life unlike Jackie who was alone; I didn't mean to make him preachy just kinda is who he is not but I'll probably make him more edgy in the next chapter and the sequel.**

**Thanks for the reviews and keep reading**

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Masane woke up a little later that night, her thoughts went automatically to Rihoko.

"Why?" She said quietly.

"Why what?" Alex said sneaking up behind her.

Masane just turned and started to cry again.

"Oh, no. Don't cry again! Come on buck up I'm sure Rihoko will come around eventually." Alex said hoping his talk with Rihoko had done something.

"But , she's right I should have found her sooner." Masane said

"Yeah, you could have done a lot of searching in a coma." Alex said trying to break her fractured logic.

Before Masane could argue, they both heard a commotion coming outside. Suddenly Tozawa came busting into the lounge.

"Masane somebody took Rihoko!" Tozawa said trying struggle against security.

"What!?" Masane said pulling Tozawa away from security.

"Some guy came into the tavern..." Tozawa started.

"WHAT GUY!?" Masane screamed.

"That guy right there!" Tozawa said pointing towards Alex, obviously scared of Masane.

"Alex?" Masane said.

"Yeah, he came in and told Rihoko about you being in a coma and left, Rihoko ran after him. Then this chick with wings grabbed her and flew away." Tozawa said.

"Angelus." Alex said coldly.

Just then Takayama and Segawa came running in.

"What's going on in here?" Takayama said irritated.

"Somebody took Rihoko!" Masane said dropping Tozawa and bumped past Takayama and Segawa, followed closely by Alex.

"Who?" Takayama asked.

"The Angelus." Alex answered for Masane.

"The Angelus?" Takayama said questioning the young man.

"One half of the powers who created the Witchblade." Alex replied.

Takayama was a little thrown off by this since the records showed that The Witchblade was the oldest and most dangerous power that existed.

"Oh, really and what's the other half?" Takayama said trying to disprove Alex.

"Me." Alex said letting his armor flowing around him.

Takayama was shocked to see this power similar to the Witchblade standing in front of him.

"So where do we start looking?" Alex asked.

"No idea. Any suggestions." Masane replied.

"Angelus likes to get in your head. Make you mad or distraught so you can't fight as well. Anyplace where you and Rihoko used to go together, some place significant?" Alex said thinking of past fights with Angelus.

"Yeah, follow me." Masane said jumping out of the window, Alex followed quickly.

"Segawa get the copter." Takayama said looking out the window where the supernatural duo had just leaped out of.

"You know where they're going?" Segawa said.

"Yes." Takayama said.

_Tokyo Tower_

Alex and Masane jumped onto the island Tokyo Tower sat on. They had jumped across the old destroyed building that surrounded the island to get there. They started to walk around the island.

"Alex it's nighttime isn't Angelus weaker during night?" Masane said watching.

"Not necessarily, it depends on how much light there is. So as long as there isn't too much light she's weak." Alex answered steadying his pistols.

Just then a dozen spotlights turned on right where the two were standing.

"Shit." Alex said his armor disappearing.

A blast of flame shot out towards Alex. Who just barely dodged the fiery death that would have befallen him.

"Masane find your daughter I'll hold off Angelus!" Alex said aiming his pistols at the opposite power.

"But Alex." Masane said

"No buts just go!" He said.

Masane was hesitant but ran off to find Rihoko.

"I can handle it." Alex said pulling out a machine gun and fired off a few rounds.

_In the Tokyo Tower_

Masane was running through the tower trying to find Rihoko.

"Rihoko! Rihoko!" Masane cried hoping Rihoko could hear her.

"Mommy!" Masane heard from behind a door.

Masane busted through the door and saw Rihoko sitting on the floor.

She transformed back to herself and ran toward Rihoko embracing her tightly.

"Oh Rihoko I'll never leave you again." Masane said breaking into tears.

The happy reunion only lasted a few seconds until Alex and Angelus came busting into the building.

"Happy reunion over!" Alex said shooting off his gun.

Masane busted through the opposite wall while grabbing Rihoko.

Masane ran outside and saw the battle Alex and Angelus must have been having. Fires sprouting everywhere, lights smashed, glass everywhere.

A helicopter started circling above the island, Masane saw a Douji Group symbol on the side and had an idea.

Takayama and Segawa were watching the ruins of what used to be Tokyo Tower Island and were amazed how could three people even people using power as strong as the Witchblade could do so much damage . They were really surprised when Masane jumped on to the side of the helicopter and opened the door, she put Rihoko in one of the seats.

"Get out of here." Masane said before she closed the door and jumped down to join the fight.

Alex busted through the front door of the tower.

"How many times have I done that tonight?" He said feeling the night was being repetitive. He summoned two Berserker darklings, two Gunner darklings, a Lightkiller and a Kamikaze darkling as well.

"Wee Hah!" Cried the Gunners as they shot at where Angels was coming from while the others scattered to have there own fun.

Masane jumped down and charged toward Angelus from behind. She came up and sliced off the arm of Angelus. Angelus screamed in pain whipping around and kicking Masane several yards away.

"You'll pay for that Witchblade!" Angelus said with bloodlust in her eyes.

"Knock Knock!" cried the Kamikaze darkling came out of nowhere and exploding in Angelus' face.

"Masane! Get out of here!" Alex said loading a shotgun.

"But..." Masane started but was cut off by Alex telling her he could take care of himself. Masane leaped back up to the helicopter and got in.

Alex looked back up to where Masane left and could now go all out.

"Just you and me now Angelus! I know your there now come out!" Alex screamed at the cloud of dust where Angelus stood just moments before.

"Hm, your no fun." Angelus said walking out of the dust and toward one of the few remaining spotlights. She stuck her severed arm in the light and it instantly healed to its original form.

"Let's end this." Alex said stepping forward.

"Lets." Angelus said stepping forward also.

They ran at each other Alex shooting off his shotgun newly transformed into a darkness gun, while Angelus shot flames at Alex.

They collided! Alex formed spikes on the knuckles of his glove and slugged Angelus sending her flying. He then used one of his tentacles to slash at her stomach, leaving a huge gash on her abdomen.

Angelus stumbled back up and charged Alex.

"Boys." Alex said plainly.

At that command the two Berserker darklings came out with a fire axe and a crowbar and headed off Angelus. The one with the fire axe went for Angelus' arm and left a large gash in her shoulder that went down to the bone. The crowbar wielding one swung but Angelus caught his arm and destroyed him. The axe one tried to attack her but she destroyed him in a burst of flames.

"Did you really think that was enough to kill me?" She laughed out.

"As long as these lights are on I heal remember?" she said her wounds slowly healing in front of Alex's eyes.

"No I remember. That's why I sent a Lightkiller out." Alex said smirking under his face mask. As he finished saying that all the lights went out making his yellow eyes glowing even brighter.

"Got it boss!" They could hear the darkling say from where the lights were plugged in.

Alex smirk grew and grew a large blade on his arm, then moved toward Angelus.

Angelus panicked, she knew she needed light now. She turned toward Tokyo Tower and with what was left of her power shot a huge burst of flames towards it. The Tower exploded! The flames created enough light for Angelus to heal the rest of her wounds and charge Alex again. The battlefield was split in light and dark and the two forces met in the middle. Alex dodged a punch from her and plunged the sword into her foot, he then formed spikes on his other hand and uppercut Angelus. She formed a sword out of flame and slashed at Alex. He dodged two but the third one connected, it was minor but it was right on his ribs and would hinder his movements a little. He dodged another slash and took out his pistol and shot at her face. She dodged one but the other got her right in the eye. She flew back with the force of the bullet. Alex ran at her with another blade and stabbed where her chest was but she rolled away and shot more flames. Alex threw himself out of the way and shot his tentacle toward her. It connected right on her shoulder and nailed her on to the side of the tower. Alex grabbed one of his machine gun on the ground and transformed it into a darkness gun and at point-blank range fired sever dozen shot into her stomach. She kicked him off her and threw her sword at him.

"It will take more than that!" Angelus screamed flying towards him.

Alex sidestepped at the last moment and grabbed Angelus.

Alex wrapped his arms around her torso and did the same with his tentacles.

"What are you doing?!" Angelus screamed at him.

"Being a hypocrite." Alex said.

Alex force all of the darkness power outward and exploded with enough force to destroy him, Angelus, and most of the island.

_3 Days Later _

Masane headed out toward work after hugging Rihoko goodbye. She walked down the street past a local park/

"Well you seem to be doing okay without me." Someone said behind her. She turned around and Alex pushed his newspaper down and showed her his face.

"Alex!" Masane screamed and ran toward him.

"Hey Masane." Alex laughed at his friend's attitude.

"How'd you survive that blast?" Masane asked.

"It'll take more than some crazy light chick and an explosion to kill me." Alex said jokingly.

"So are you in town for long?" she asked.

"No, my trains leaving in an hour and then my plane will leave tonight." Alex responded.

"Oh. Well keep in touch. Rihoko wanted to thank you for telling her about me." Masane said smiling.

"I will." Alex said looking at his watch. "Well I better be going."

"Oh. Yeah me too." Masane said looking at her watch.

"See yeah." they both said and went there separate ways.

_-Alex we're being followed-_

"I know." Alex told his inner demon.

Several yards behind them there was a figure in black with long hair.

"Nice job Alex, you took out Angelus with a bang. But I want my powers back and I won't let you or Witchblade stop me. Son." The figure said eyeing Alex from long off.

"Bring it." Alex said almost as if he had heard his stalker.

**The End**

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**Hey everybody sorry for the long wait but I finished this a couple of months ago and hated what I had on the page. So I started over and made Alex more in the fight so I could have more darkness powers and brutality in the fight. I also ended it with him being followed to set up my possible sequel I hope you liked the story and I hope you review.**


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